Just entering last week's Big Sing choir competition in Auckland was a leap of faith for Kaitaia Abundant Life School music teacher Opeloge Ah Sam, given that when he submitted the entry, in March, the school didn't actually have a choir.
He remedied that by making membership of the choir a NCEA assessment. He soon had his choir, and little more than three months later the Ministry of Voice, comprising 37 Year 10-13 students, won their first competition, against opposition from some of the biggest Auckland schools.
Abundant Life was the only Northland school there, and while the choir's success might not have come as a complete surprise to principal Mark Tan, it exceeded the students' (and their teacher's) own goal - to walk off the stage at the Auckland Town hall feeling proud of what they had done.
Before they left for Auckland Tan described the choir as exceptional, saying it would contribute a very distinct flavour to the competition. It did that, and more, winning a standing ovation and the trophy for the best performance at the gala concert at the Town Hall before the competition proper, then sweeping all before it against choirs from the likes of Auckland Grammar, Epsom Girls' Grammar, King's College and Baradene College.
The win came just four days after Abundant Life's KALS Collective won the Northland Battle of the Teen Bands in Kerikeri, while three students are preparing their bids for the Smokefreerockquest solo/duo final in Auckland in September.
